


The Fine Art of Noticing

by sinesofinsanity



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-12
Updated: 2012-11-12
Packaged: 2017-11-18 12:10:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/560925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sinesofinsanity/pseuds/sinesofinsanity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Henry is different from the other kids in his class. Not just because he's the only one who seems to grow any older, but because he's the only one who seems to know it's happening.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Fine Art of Noticing

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a comment one of the creators made in an interview about how there can be children in Storybrooke who were children in the Fairy Tale land. 
> 
> Many thanks to kiki_eng for being a continuously patient beta. One day I'll write a story for a fandom you actually know. Maybe.

Henry always knew he was different. Not because he knew his mother was evil, he had learned fairly quickly that most children thought their parents were evil at one point or another. Adults either laughed or scolded him, and other children were even less help. “My babysitter’s evil too.” Jim Hortner had informed him that day in kindergarten he had whispered his secret to the other kids at playtime, “She makes me sit in the corner all the time. And I’d only snuck a little piece of Christmas pie, I’m a good boy!” Henry hadn’t brought it up again. He never really liked Jim Hortner anyway, who always had an excuse for getting in trouble, so he hadn’t been upset that Jim Hortner was never in any grade but kindergarten. No, what made him different was how he’d noticed that Jim Hortner never changed grades.  


Henry noticed things. Things no one else seemed to pay attention to. The fact that the school library never got any new books, that no one new ever moved to town (except Henry, but he’d been too young to remember), that so many people worked at the cannery but no one knew anything about the company that owned it, that Ruby kept buying celebrity magazines but only talked about local gossip, that he’d never been on a field trip out of town, and that it was never really sunny until his mother started frowning at her apple tree.  


He understood why no one believed him that his mother was evil. He himself could never give a definite reason or example that proved she was evil; he just knew that she was. Something about the way everyone was impressed by her but she never had any friends. Or maybe it was the sinister glee she took at crushing the insects or spiders that dared to crawl into her kitchen or on her precious apple tree. Henry had seen that same expression on her face the first time he’d sat in on a town council meeting. Councilman Piper Peterson had brought up the new tax she was putting on businesses that sold cigarettes and she had torn him to pieces, questioning everything from the man’s ties to an out of town pickling company to his parenting ability, all while wearing that sinister smile. Henry had nightmares for a week after that.  


The rest of it though, not only did no one else notice, but no one else seemed to want to notice. At first he’d thought it was normal. His mother was very strict about how much TV he was allowed to watch so he just assumed the shows about towns like his were on other channels. But then he’d picked up a comic book in which the main character travelled across America solving mysteries and fighting monsters. He’d devoured it, begging the shop owner for back issues until his mother complained that he was spending all his allowance on trash, and borrowing issues from classmates when she refused to give him the money to buy more. No matter where the hero went, no matter what town, city, or hamlet, none were like his. There were people who left towns or moved in. There were grown-ups who changed jobs or went to meetings in other towns, families who went on vacation out of state, or people with friends and families somewhere else. He tried pointing this out but no one else thought it was strange.  


“Of course people from out of town come here,” Tom, who ran Spratt’s Health food store, had said “Were else would we get our merchandise?”  


“So when do deliveries arrive?”  


“Now and then,” replied Leah, his wife, “Now how about a cookie? Tom can’t have any, he’s on a diet this week.” Henry didn’t point out that Tom was always on a diet  


“Of course I’ve been out of town,” laughed Chris Kicker, whacking one of his leg braces with a crutch, “Got to, don’t I? Hospital here doesn’t have an orthopedic specialist. Plus now I’ve got a cat with crooked legs too, needs a specialized animal hospital.”  


“So when was the last time you went?”  


“A little while ago. I got to get the hardware store before my roof falls in. Hey, you and your mom should come by when I get the place fixed. It’s a bit crooked now, but it’ll be real nice when it’s fixed.” Henry didn’t point out that Chris’s house was never fixed.  


“Of course I know people from other towns,” sighed Lily Bird, head of the volunteer fire department, “All of my children have flown away to schools out of state. Except my youngest, Anne.”  


“So when did they go?”  


“When they were old enough. Say, why don’t we pick up Anne and go for ice cream. I want to spend as much time as I can with Anne before she flies off to college herself.” Henry didn’t point out that Anne never left for college.  


And so it went. No matter what question he asked the answer was always vague and followed by a cheerful change of subject, as though the answer was the most normal thing in the world and therefore a boring topic of conversation. It was frustrating, sure, but Henry knew he could have handled it, could have let it be, if not for how it affected the students in his class.  


None of the other students changed grades with Henry. Everyone stayed stuck in the same grade year after year, never getting any older, never remembering that they’d learned it all the year before. Henry started to dread the first day of school and the confusion it would bring.  


“What are you talking about?” Tina Rub, the butcher’s daughter, had asked on the first day of grade one, “You were in our class last year. Jacob Namble got a trampoline for Christmas, but it broke. I hope they get it fixed.” Henry didn’t point out that Jacob Namble had gotten a trampoline for the previous Christmas too and it had also broken.  


“That’s silly!” Steve Dub, the baker’s son, had laughed on the first day of grade two, “You’ve always been in the same class as Paige and me. She told me she’s going to get a pet rabbit for her ninth birthday.” Henry didn’t point out that Paige never got a pet rabbit.  


“Don’t be ridiculous.” Sharleen Dubb, whose father sold artistic candles at the annual craft fair, had scoffed on the first day of grade three “You’ve always been in our class. Remember Sarah planted the row of delphiniums and shell flowers in the school garden? The teacher said if Sarah doesn’t talk back as much this year she can plant silver bells.” Henry didn’t point out that Sarah never planted silver bells.  


“You’re crazy.” Atir, whose parents ran a shoe store downtown, had groaned on the first day of grade four, “You’ve always been in the same class as Mike and Millie. Maybe you’re confused because they fell off the monkey bars last year and Mike missed some school ‘cause of the concussion.” Atir didn’t seem convinced, though, and kept giving Henry an odd look.  


This time Henry couldn’t take it. “The year before last they fell off a ladder, and the year before that they fell off a bridge, and the year before that they fell down the hill behind Mrs. Gosling’s house! And every time Mike got a concussion and EVERY TIME they were in fourth grade!”  


“That’s stupid.” Replied Atir’s foster brother Carlos, “Our foster sister, Fae, was in fourth grade last year, and they weren’t in her class.”  


“No she wasn’t!”  


“And our brothers Jamie and Jeremy were in fourth grade the year before and they were never in the same class as Mike and Millie.”  


“No they weren’t!”  


“Yeah, whatever” Atir and Carlos wandered off to play baseball with Dan, their other foster brother.  


By fourth grade the other kids had stopped hanging around Henry. They thought he was weird and avoided him or made fun of the odd things he said. This was fine with him, or so he told himself, it gave him more time to investigate. He combed the school library (the public library had always had a “Closed, Re-opening Soon” sign on the door) collecting stories and poring over fact books, trying to find some explanation for what was going on in his town. There were never any answers, and no one seemed to care about the questions. Henry figured it had something to do with him, because he was the only one who absolutely-for-sure wasn’t born in town. So he started asking about his birth parents, searching online when his mother declared the subject finished.  


About two weeks into the fourth grade Miss Blanchard held him back at the end of the day.  


“How is everything Henry? You seem to be having trouble making friends with the other kids.”  


“They’re okay. No one’s wanted to play with me for a while, but that’s fine.”  


“Aren’t you lonely?”  


“Not really, well, kind of, yeah. But I guess I’m used to people not wanting me.”  


“Oh, Henry, don’t say that. I’m sure the other kids want to play with you. And in any case, your mother wanted you very much. I’m sure she wants you more than anything else in the world.”  


“Maybe she did when I was a baby, but I don’t think she wants me very much anymore.”  


“Oh, uh, well, I want you very much as a student, does that count for anything?”  


“Of course, you’re one of the most important people in town.”  


“Well, thank you!”  


“I just,” Henry sighed and looked down, “I can’t figure out why. No matter what I do it doesn’t make any sense, and things keep getting worse and worse.”  


Miss Blanchard looked confused, and Henry was worried that she would call him crazy like the Atir and Carlos had, but she just frowned and turned to her desk. “I want you to have something, Henry. “ She said, reaching into a drawer, “I picked this up at a garage sale a little while ago and haven’t gotten a chance to read it yet, but I think you need it more than me.” She turned back.  


“A book?”  


“Not just any book,” She smiled, eyes lighting up, “These stories have helped thousands of people just like you to figure out the world and where they belong in it. These are the stories that carry us through the difficult times and lead us to the better ones. They give us the most important thing of all.”  


“What’s that?”  


“Hope.”  


At first Henry didn’t quite understand, but he read the book anyway. It didn’t help with making friends, in fact it seemed to make things worse. Sophie O’Neill, who had always been in grade four, had started it. “Ooh look!” she’d squealed, curls bouncing as she flounced over and grabbed the book, “Widdle Baby Henwy’s weading _fairy_ tales.”  


“Give it back, Sophie!”  


She laughed and held the book just out of reach, “What’s the matter, Baby Henry? You need to bring it home so mommy can read you a beddy-by story?”  


Finally Liam Winkle, who was always in grade five and always taking the baby-sitters course, had intervened. Unfortunately he called Sophie “horrid” when he did so.  


“Fine!” she’d shouted, one of her curls falling on her forehead like an angry question mark. “Fine, I’m horrid. But you,” She’d pointed at Henry, “You’re a freak! Everyone says so. You’re always saying weird things and acting like the whole world’s some big mystery. That’s why you like that book. It’s full of freaks like you! You probably think it’s all real.” She’d then thrown the book and stomped off to her friends. Henry had to dive to save the book from landing in a puddle.  


“Are you okay?” Liam asked, helping him up.  


“I’m fine, I just…” Henry trailed off, there was something there. Something Sophie had said was starting to-  


“Are you sure you’re okay?” Liam was giving him a funny look. That was fine; Henry was used to funny looks.  


Henry grinned, it was all coming together. “I’m positive. I’ve got to go. I think I’ve finally figured it out.” Hugging the book to his chest he ran back to the classroom and grabbed some paper and markers. Miss Blanchard looked up, surprised, but shrugged and continued her marking. Henry ignored her. This was way more important. He finally had an explanation. It just needed a little refining, a bit more research and he’d have it all together.  


Then he could go find some help.


End file.
